So my dad's looking for a laptop...

I told him I'd keep on the lookout, but this is proving rather difficult. Help a girl out here.

He wants:

12"+ screen size (so no netbooks, I already tried)
1 GB RAM
1.5+ GHz processor
60+ GB HD
Windows XP or at least something he can wipe and put my copy of XP on
(video card not necessary, just something reliable to surf, bill pay, program, and putter around Office with)
New or Refurbished, But no Dells, Apples, Compaqs, or anything older than 4 years old(where the hardware starts failing).

Budget: $400. (damn his old man eyes, he should just take the netbook!)

Don't say get a desktop, we already have like 6 of them in the house (don't ask). Ebay's giving me a bunch of extra old stuff of questionable quality.

Dell Outlet. I am no fan of Dell, but I know people who've gotten great deals there for less than $500. ($500 is the magic number for super cheap for whatever reason.) I was curious myself so I did a quick search and sorted by processor power...
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...line/en/InventorySearch?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh

I actually forgot about those. Came up with some good alternatives too. Now to convince him that Dell is not the devil... something I have trouble convincing myself of sometimes. -_-

I tried searching for you, but then i realize it might be useless as your father sounds pretty stubborn and picky (no offense), so here is a list.

http://dealnews.com/categories/Computer/PC-Computers/PC-Laptop/49.html?filter=c:49;

My favorites for your father:

Toshiba Intel Dual Core 2.16GHz 15" Laptop - $450
http://dealnews.com/Toshiba-Intel-Dual-Core-2-16-GHz-15-Laptop-for-450-free-shipping/286356.html

HP G60 Intel Dual Core 2GHz 16" Laptop - $480
http://dealnews.com/HP-G60-Intel-Dual-Core-2-GHz-16-Laptop-for-480-25-s-h/286336.html

Acer Aspire Intel Dual Core 2.16GHz 14" Widescreen Laptop - $400
http://dealnews.com/Acer-Aspire-Int...-Widescreen-Laptop-for-400-25-s-h/286314.html

Lenovo Celeron with 15.4" screen
http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4421652&Sku=T71-15404

Refurbed HP Sempron with 15.6" screen and 3GB RAM for $480
http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4471548&Sku=M975-150021

The second link above offers a major jump in features for just $80 more.

Anything recent is going to have Vista on it. Give it a try. It's gotten a lot of undeserved bad press. It should run fine on the second item above.

BTW, I got my current laptop through the Dell Outlet Store and it has been great. Saved about $400 off the then price for such a loaded unit. Runs Windows 7 very well. Enough so I'll install the release version when it ships.

Just got today's mail from Buy.com


http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=210902523&adid=17653&dcaid=17653
Gateway M-7317u Notebook,2.00GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core Processor,3072MB,160GB,15.4-inch WXGA Ultrabright TFT Active Matrix display,8X Multi-format dual Layer DVDRW with DVD-RAM and Labelflash, Webcam, Windows Vista Home Premium, Factory Refurbished - L-LX.W530X.002 - PACIFIC BLUE

If you want something with those stats your going to have to get net book or used.
A net book is usually around 300-400 dollars and are small. for $100-$200 you could get a regular sized used laptop. If you buy it used online it will cost closer to $200 if you find some one selling offline it's usually closer to $100.

Actually, I just got NewEgg's newsletter this morning and the exact laptop he wanted was at the top of the page. He jumped on that. Thanks anyway, everyone.

A Macbook.